More from CafeMom: Warning: Parents Are Getting Scammed With Fake Versions of This Year’s Hottest Holiday Toy Of course, it wasn’t just me and my husband contributing to The Great Spoiling of our spawn. Some gifts were from her grandparents, a few were from aunts, some were from family friends. But, regardless of the love each of those people packaged into a present for my child, it was simply too much. So when I saw friends on social media talking about adopting a new four-gift strategy — something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read — I decided to jump on the bandwagon. It makes sense that millennials would see fit to downsize during the holidays. After all, we are the generation known for “killing” everything from diamonds to casual chain restaurants with our fiercely frugal ways. But it’s not just frugality that motivated me to change the way we do Christmas presents. More from CafeMom: This Mom Wins the Holidays for Her Brutally Honest Christmas Card To conduct the study, researchers provided a group of 36 toddlers with two different play environments: one loaded with sixteen awesome toys, and another that only had four. What they found is that toddlers in the room with fewer toys were more focused on what they were playing with and were forced to play more creatively. In the longterm, this could lead to kids developing a stronger imagination and more appreciation for their things (cue the applause from every parent who is sick and tired of yelling, “You need to take care of your stuff!”). Obviously, every family is going to do what works for them. Some might think I’m the Grinch incarnate for limiting how many presents my precious angels get each year. Some parents probably want to throw down with a million gifts just because they can, and more power to them. But, for moms and dads who don’t want to break the bank for Christmas — or simply can’t afford to — there’s nothing wrong with trying a different approach. The best part of holiday traditions is that you get to make your own rules. And, who knows? Maybe fewer gifts under the tree will help your kid find new ways to love the things they already have.
title: “Having Too Many Toys Is Actually Bad For Kids Says Science” ShowToc: true date: “2024-09-07” author: “Katie Smith”
More from CafeMom: Warning: Parents Are Getting Scammed With Fake Versions of This Year’s Hottest Holiday Toy Of course, it wasn’t just me and my husband contributing to The Great Spoiling of our spawn. Some gifts were from her grandparents, a few were from aunts, some were from family friends. But, regardless of the love each of those people packaged into a present for my child, it was simply too much. So when I saw friends on social media talking about adopting a new four-gift strategy — something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read — I decided to jump on the bandwagon. It makes sense that millennials would see fit to downsize during the holidays. After all, we are the generation known for “killing” everything from diamonds to casual chain restaurants with our fiercely frugal ways. But it’s not just frugality that motivated me to change the way we do Christmas presents. More from CafeMom: This Mom Wins the Holidays for Her Brutally Honest Christmas Card To conduct the study, researchers provided a group of 36 toddlers with two different play environments: one loaded with sixteen awesome toys, and another that only had four. What they found is that toddlers in the room with fewer toys were more focused on what they were playing with and were forced to play more creatively. In the longterm, this could lead to kids developing a stronger imagination and more appreciation for their things (cue the applause from every parent who is sick and tired of yelling, “You need to take care of your stuff!”). Obviously, every family is going to do what works for them. Some might think I’m the Grinch incarnate for limiting how many presents my precious angels get each year. Some parents probably want to throw down with a million gifts just because they can, and more power to them. But, for moms and dads who don’t want to break the bank for Christmas — or simply can’t afford to — there’s nothing wrong with trying a different approach. The best part of holiday traditions is that you get to make your own rules. And, who knows? Maybe fewer gifts under the tree will help your kid find new ways to love the things they already have.
